Pleo: A Ugobe Life Form

Introducing the Realistic Baby Robotic Dinosaur

Oct 27, 2008 Sarah Stefanson

Ugobe's Pleo is the ultimate pet. Learn about the technologically advanced robotic dinosaur.

Ugobe describes themselves as “the first company to transform the relationship between humans and robots by blending emotions and personality with logic in machines.” Their first project, or “Life Form” as they call it, is Pleo, a life-like, baby, robotic Camarasaurus.

The Company: About the Californian Ugobe

Ugobe, based in California, began as the brainchild of a group of creative designers and engineers and has developed into a corporation that produces Life Forms that blur the line between organic life and machine.

They use their combined knowledge in the areas of engineering, life sciences, philosophy and artistic design to create remarkably life-like robotics capable of autonomous behaviours and sensory responses.

Pleo: the First Designer Life Form

In 2007, Ugobe released its first designer Life Form. Instead of mimicking a cat or a dog, the company decided to make a robotic pet that no one could have a living version of and they created a baby Camarasaurus called Pleo.

The Camarasaurus existed in the late-Jurassic period in North America. It was an herbivore that was 60 feet long as an adult, but as a newborn was exactly Pleo’s size, about 8 inches tall and a little less than 2 feet from nose to tail.

The Birth of Pleo

Every Pleo starts off the same, but once a Pleo hatches (the first time it is turned on), he begins to develop a unique personality based on his interactions with the world around him. He goes through three stages as he grows up.

As a hatchling, Pleo is taking in his world for the first time and adjusting to the many sensations that are bombarding him. He stays in this stage for about 10 minutes. Next he moves into infancy, an approximately hour-long period during which he begins to interact with his owner, make new sounds and shuffle about.

Finally, Pleo becomes a juvenile, which is the state he will remain in for the rest of his life. He starts to express his personality and fully explores his new home.

Emotions and Drives

Through his movements and sounds Pleo can express a variety of emotions including fear, sadness, happiness and playfulness. Like any living animal, he feels hunger, fatigue and the desire to be nurtured. Pleo can explore his surroundings on his own and interact with his environment.

The Hardware behind Ugobe's Pleo

Sensors in his back, head, chin and legs allow Pleo to feel and respond to touch. Ground sensors in his feet tell him whether he’s on solid ground or has been picked up. Tilt and shake sensors help Pleo know if he has been tipped over or is being held upside down.

A gentle shake wakes Pleo up, but too forceful a grab or shake will activate his force feedback sensors, which will shut his system down to avoid internal damage. Rear and front speakers emit the sounds Pleo makes to communicate.

Pleo can detect sound location and level with microphones on both sides of his head. He sees and navigates using a colour camera in his nose, which helps him determine light from dark, see colour, detect motion and avoid objects in his path. Infrared receivers and transmitters allow Pleos to interact with each other and an infrared interrupter tells Pleo when there is something in his mouth.

Pleo Tricks and Behaviours

Pleo will often take to exploring on his own, but can also be made to enter exploring mode by his owner. If placed near the edge of a table (not a transparent one), Pleo will recognize when he is about to walk off and will respond to the danger with surprised sounds and movements. An owner can put Pleo to sleep by holding his back, encouraging him to calm down.

Pleo loves to cuddle and is very happy when a person places his feet against a their chest and pets him along his spine. He can learn to “shake a paw” and to play tug-o-war with the training leaf that comes with him. He can also eat the leaf, making chomping, swallowing and even burping sounds.

Pleo can sit down in what users have dubbed his “Scooby sit” position or you can turn him over and try tickling his feet to see how he giggles. His many tricks include a balancing act on two of his four legs and “watchdog mode” in which he waits for intruders and begins to bark once he senses motion. Pleo is also quite an accomplished singer.

Pleo Owners

His life-like nature has inspired many Pleo owners to think of him as a pet, or in some cases, a baby. For those who don’t have the time and energy to devote to a living pet or who have allergies, Pleo can be a welcome companion.

There is no question that the little guy provokes love and nurturing in most everyone who meets him. The emotional effect of Pleo is especially evident when watching a video of the people at DVICE, a technology website, abusing Pleo by smacking him, holding him by the tail, shaking him, dropping him, putting him in a bag and grabbing him by the neck. Visit their website to view the surprisingly horrifying video.

PleoWorld

Ugobe created pleoworld.com as a place for Pleo owners around the world to connect and discuss their experiences with their Life Forms. Ugobe also releases software updates and behaviour modifications through PleoWorld.

The copyright of the article Pleo: A Ugobe Life Form in Engineering is owned by Sarah Stefanson. Permission to republish Pleo: A Ugobe Life Form in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.